RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
DECATUR – It was déjà vu all over again in the Bellmont-Adams Central baseball matchup at the new-look Bellmont field Tuesday night, the Braves claiming a 5-1 victory in their season opener. Just as he did last year in a 5-2 win over the Jets, hard-throwing Bellmont right-hander Eli Laurent dominated the Adams Central hitters, striking out eight and yielding only two hits and one walk.
Well, maybe not exactly like last year. Bellmont coach Tom Montgomery noticed something different. “The difference from last year to this year,” Montgomery said, “is that last year he had 13 strikeouts and just really dominated from the mound. He’s learning, developing as a pitcher to where he makes them hit his pitch, and our defense was behind him tonight, making some great plays.”
The strategy helped Laurent keep his pitch count low—just 86 pitches—allowing him to go all seven innings, a rarity in a pitcher’s first outing of the season.
“He got even stronger as the game went on,” noted Montgomery. “He got better control of his breaking pitches. He did a really great job, kept their hitters off balance.”
“I felt good,” Laurent said. “I felt mentally dialed in, except for the fourth inning when I was a little off, but Coach came out and kind of reset me, told me to stay within myself and finish the game out.”
Laurent was referring to the inning in which the Jets scored their only run. Ryan Tester and Ryan Black led off with singles, and after Trevor Currie struck out, Ethan Poling hit a grounder to Brave third baseman Aidan Zimmerman, who started to throw to first, then changed his mind and threw to second. The hesitation led to a wild throw that allowed Tester to score an unearned run. Laurent rebounded to retire Adams Central catcher Keegan Bluhm on a called third strike, and then Zimmerman deftly fielded Logan Uhlman’s slow roller and threw on the run to first baseman Dylan Velez, who scooped the ball out of the dirt to end the inning.
The Braves took a 1-0 lead in the third when Andrew James singled, advanced to third on Jack Scheumann’s walk and Gavin Krull’s ground out, and then scored when Jet pitcher Cade Van De Weg’s strike three in the dirt to Laurent went to the backstop.
After the Jets (3-2) tied it with that run in the top of the fourth, the Braves put the game away with a three-run rally in the bottom of the inning.
But it almost didn’t happen.
Zimmerman and Austin Christener led off with walks. Then Van De Weg’s throw to third on Velez’s bunt was too late, loading the bases with no outs. Will Baker hit a liner to right, but the Jets’ Caden Funk made a diving catch, with Zimmerman tagging up and scoring the go-ahead run.
Hold on, said the Jets.
They claimed that Zimmerman had left early. The plate umpire agreed, turning the fly out into a double play, and the Jets were on the verge of squashing the Braves’ rally. But Bellmont shortstop Andrew James drove in Christner with a single to left, and Scheumann, who had three hits, drilled a 3-2 pitch up the middle to score Velez and James, who had advanced to third and second, respectively, on a wild pitch.
That made it 4-1, and the way Laurent was pitching, that was a safe lead. He faced just ten hitters in the final three innings, allowing only a walk to Ryan Black. The Braves tallied one more run in the fifth when courtesy runner Jordan Haines scored on a passed ball.
Van De Weg took the loss, striking out six and giving up four runs in four innings. Keagen Combs struck out three in two innings of relief.
The game was the first at Bellmont since the recent construction of new dugouts, which, along with last year’s late-season addition of a modern press box and concession stand, have transformed the Bellmont facility.
Bellmont travels to Bishop Luers Wednesday. The Jets are off until they go to New Haven for a doubleheader Friday.